YOU MIGHT FIND YOURSELF SURPRISED WHEN traveling along I-94 between Fargo and Valley City. Amid flat, prairie farmland, you will come across a sign saying, “Continental Divide.”

Despite what you might expect, that sign is entirely accurate. “The” Continental Divide in the western United States is but one of many in North America that indicate a dividing line between watersheds. The Laurentian (or Northern) Divide cuts through North Dakota, where the Red River flows north and drains into Hudson Bay and the Arctic Ocean.

Likewise, surprises await you as you research your family in North Dakota.

A HISTORY OF NORTH DAKOTA

Native Americans dwelled in what is now North Dakota for centuries. When Europeans first arrived, the major Native American tribes were the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Sioux, and Chippewa.

While many members of these tribes live elsewhere today, the United States government created four reservations within North Dakota: Spirit Lake (Dakota Sioux), Fort Berthold (the Three Affiliated Tribes: Arikara, Hidatsa and Mandan), Standing Rock (Lakota and Dakota Sioux) and Turtle Mountain (Chippewa). A small part of Lake Traverse Indian Reservation is also in North Dakota.

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